Iron Man Tops Thor in 'Avengers' Toy Tally

THR counts cargo containers to uncover which superhero is moving the most toys.

The box-office success of The Avengers likely is causing a boom in sales of Marvel SuperHero merchandise. But parent Disney and toy partner Hasbro are declining to share statistics. So THR asked Panjiva, a company that tracks international trade, to count the number of massive cargo containers that were packed with Avengers toys and other merchandise in February, March and April (the key prerelease months). Keeping in mind that each cargo container can carry several thousand Thor hammers, Hawkeye bows and Iron Man masks, one can glean the popularity not only of goods based on the Avengers as a group but of each of the seven individual heroes as well. Here's the count, along with examples of popular items beyond mere action figures.